The Hidden Side--Hermione And Draco
by ellencrypted
Summary: Hermione and Draco spend the holidays together working on a Herbology project. They are both completely unwilling at first, but as they get to know each other they find themselves falling in love with their hidden sides.
1. Chapter 1

"Potter!" He drawled, his familiar sneer beginning to show as he called out to Harry.

"Leaving for the holidays, I see? Going anywhere nice? Not that Weasley dump I hope; you might bring back fleas." Ron clenched his fists, but Hermione put her hand on his shoulder and faced Malfoy herself.

"I don't see you going anywhere for Christmas Malfoy. Why? Has your father finally realised how pathetic you are and made you stay at school instead? At least Ron's family loves him. I'll bet that's more than anyone could say for you."

Harry and Ron stared at her. She looked like she had two years ago just before punching Malfoy in the face. Her bushy hair was practically sparking with electricity, and there was a fire in her narrowed eyes that the boys didn't see very often.

Malfoy took a step forward and looked down his nose at Hermione, who was drawing herself up to look as tall as she could.

"You can't talk about my family like that when your parents are both stupid mudbloods, Granger." He snarled, his blue eyes flickering with contempt.

He stared at her for a few more seconds, then turned away. As he began walking back in the direction of the Great Hall he called over his shoulder, "Oh, and Granger? You might want to be a bit more respectful to me; we're going to have to spend a lot of time together this Christmas break."


	2. Chapter 2

_She was walking down the Grand Staircase...heading towards the Great Hall...The castle was deserted; everyone else was in bed. She heard something, a soft rustling noise, and turned around with a gasp. Her heart beating fast, Hermione squinted around the dark hallway for the source of the sound. She could see nothing, and the pounding in her ears meant that she could hear nothing either. Hermione continued to tiptoe into the Great Hall, lifting up her cape so as to be as silent as possible. None of the torches were lit, and the House tables looked bare and cold in the darkness. _

_Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she whirled around and kicked out at whoever was behind her. She heard a grunt as a dark manly figure keeled over in front of her, his blond hair looking almost shiny in the dim lighting._

_"Malfoy?!" She gasped in astonishment. "What on earth are you doing here? Were you following me?"_

_He lifted his head and met her stare with eyes so full of sadness that they shocked her so much she could think of nothing else._

_"Hermione.." He panted, seeming unable to catch his breath. She couldn't remember ever hearing him say her first name before, especially not without his usual scorn. He looked and sounded like he was in pain..He was still holding his stomach like her clumsy kick had broken his ribs._

_"I meant none of it. Hermione." His crytal blue eyes were looking at her in a way that she had never seen them look at anyone else before. His voice was desperate, and Hermione's head was buzzing with the sound of it. _

_"Hermione..Granger- I-I''m so sorry. Everything I said, everything I did.. I feel nothing but regret."_

_His eyes rolled back in his head, and then his body hit the floor with a thud. He was on his back, and Hermione could see blood staining his white shirt underneath his pale hands. His blond hair flopped over his dead eyes, his mouth hung open slightly, and his neck was at an unnatural angle._

_It felt like all the air was being sucked from her body, and she fell onto the cold marble floor next to him, and then-_

She woke up. Drenched in sweat, with her hair sticking to the back of her neck in a hot and messy tangle, Hermione Granger sat up in bed in the Gryffindor dormitory, gasping for breath. She had just had a dream...but what had it been about? It had felt like a nightmare, and her heart was still racing ever so hard.

She leaned over to her night stand and checked her watch. It has ten past three in the morning. Why was she having dreams about Draco Malfoy at three o'clock in the morning?

It was all coming back to her now. Had she killed him? Also, was he saying sorry for the way he had always acted towards her?

_This is ridiculous, _she thought_. It was just a dream. I need to get back to sleep or I'll be tired in class tomorrow._

So with that logical thought in her mind, she got back into bed and tried to fall back to sleep.

But as much as she tried, she could not shake the image of Draco Malfoy's vacant eyes as he lay dead at her feet.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning at breakfast, Hermione tried her best to walk straight past the mostly empty Slytherin table without looking over to where Malfoy was sitting. Her cheeks flamed as she thought of what he would say if he knew she had dreamed about him.  
But she knew she would have to face up to him some time.  
They had been set a Herbology assignment over the Christmas break, and Professor Grubbly-Plank had chosen who they would work with. Seeing as they were both staying at Hogwarts over the holidays and the teacher thought Hermione would be a good influence on him, she paired Hermione and Draco together.  
Naturally, none of them were too thrilled with this decision. They were supposed to organise a time to meet up and work on it, but that didn't seem very likely to happen.  
Suddenly Hermione felt a tap on her shoulder and heard a throat being cleared. She turned round and nearly choked on the piece of toast she had been chewing when she saw Malfoy standing above her with that same turned up nose he had whenever he was around her.  
He saw the look of confusion and disgust that had registered on Hermione's face and found himself thinking back to the humiliating time he had let her filthy hands hit him across the face. He steeled himself, looked into her eyes and tried to sound as confident and condescending as he could while he said "I'm going up to the empty charms classroom on the fourth floor to start the Herbology project. Come on."  
He didn't want to use the word "we". It sounded too friendly, and even if they did have to work on a project together that did not mean they had to enjoy a single second of it.  
"Um..okay. Just let me get-" there was no point in finishing her sentence; he was already walking away.  
When Hermione had gotten over the shock of Draco's relative politeness, she grabbed her bag, books, and the last piece of toast and rushed after him. She caught up to him just as he reached the staircase, and they began to walk up together. Draco walked as fast as possible in order to not have to stand next to her.  
"Oh! Wait, I forgot my quill at the breakfast table. I'll be right back!" She began to hurry back down the stairs but he pulled on her arm and without a word or so much as a glance, took her Herbology notebook from her hands and carried on up the stairs.  
She ran into the hall, picked up her quill from where it had fallen under the table, and huffed and puffed her way back up the staircase. Living in Hogwarts, no one could ever be completely unfit with the amount of stairs they had in that place.  
When Hermione first opened the charm classroom door, she thought there was no one inside. But then she noticed Draco sitting on the top row next to the window. She walked over and saw that he was hunched over her notebook, squinting at her squashed up handwriting and trying to copy her notes into his own book.  
Hermione grabbed her book out of his grasp and held it out of his reach. She wasn't afraid of him. She wouldn't be intimidated by him anymore.  
"If Professor really is making us work together, then that is what we are going to do. We're going to work together. I won't let you just copy my answers." She said indignantly.  
Malfoy glared up at her through the rays of sunshine gleaming through the glass window.  
"Fine, Granger. Fine. Although i dont much see the point in your existence if it isnt to show off and prove to everyone else that youre the most intelligent witch of your age. Thats what theyre calling you, isnt it? Intelligent. I'd just call it sucking up personally."  
His voice leered, and there was a certain sharpness to his words that made Hermione feel like they were meant to hurt her as much as possible.  
She turned on her heel and began to walk back in the direction of the door. She didnt have to deal with Malfoy, and she most certainly didnt want to. She would just tell the teacher she wanted to work alone for this task.  
Suddenly she felt a hand on her arm, holding her back. She knew it was him before she had fully turned around, but it still came as a shock to see him standing so close.  
"Look, i dont want to work alone. Let's just do the stupid assignment and get it over with okay?"  
She had never heard him speak like that before. Like a normal person, with actual feelings. For the first time, she could hear the different layers his voice and words held. doubt, frustration, loneliness.  
Hermione had only ever heard him being rude and obnoxious, and yet somehow it did not surprise her that beneath all that hid this different Draco... It was as if she had always seen through him on some subconscious level, and now that side of him was showing,it still seemed to fit her faulty image of him.  
And so that was how it went. They sat back down next to each other, letting the sunlight caress the top of their heads as they worked.  
Hermione kept leaning over him to cross out a sentence or correct a misspelled word on his piece of parchment, and Draco kept thinking of snide comments to make about her work, but he kept them to himself.  
Eventually the sun warmed them up so much that they got uncomfortable, and they took off their cloaks. Draco's white hair went well with his shirt and the silver in his tie, and so now he looked a little less like a vampire as he sat next to the bushy haired and warm eyed Hermione, who had rolled up her sleeves and loosened her bright and colourful tie and looked as much like a Gryffindor as Draco looked like a Slytherin.  
She glanced over at him. She had seen a much milder version of Draco Malfoy in the last hour. He had muttered to himself as he wrote, and had let Hermione correct him, even though she was constantly preparing herself for a biting comment or retort from him. He was clever, and the answers came easily to him, but he got frustrated and gave up far too quickly.  
He would slam down his pencil and run his fingers through his icy hair, curling his lip and looking like he had eaten a sour lemon. At first Hermione ignored him in fear that he would lash out at her, but when he had done this three times she looked over, read theough what he had written and rubbed out his mistake. She had then gone back to her notes without looking up at his face. A few seconds later she felt him move back to his paper and heard him pick up him pen and continue to write.  
He never once said thank you.  
Very soon the lesson was over, and Malfoy was collecting his things from the table.  
Hermione could feel her face burning as she saw him glancing at her in the corner of her eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, maybe thank her or say goodbye, but before she could lift her eyes to his face he had turned and strode out of the room, his black cloak hanging from his arm. 


	4. Chapter 4

When Hermione got back to her dormitory she got changed into her favourite red sweater and most comfortable jeans, ready for an afternoon of reading by the common room fire. Christmas was four days away, and as she had already sent all her cards and presents and done most of her homework, there was nothing left but to enjoy her time away from Malfoy.  
It had been so strange to sit so close to him. Even though they had hardly spoken, she felt she knew so much more about him that she had that morning; how his shoulders tilted towards the page, how he bit his lip when he was really concentrated, the way he seemed irritated by his hair when it fell in his eyes.  
She put down the book. Why couldn't she stop thinking about him? It was infuriating! Yes, he was painfully good looking, but he was arrogant and rude and she hated his guts. She thought back to all the things he had said and done to make others laugh at her, and finally decided that she was going to work ahead on the Herbology project so as to finish it as soon as possible, even if it meant doing the work for him.  
She got her books from upstairs and began to work.

Two days passed and Hermione did not have another thought about Malfoy. They had not looked at each other since their study session.  
It was getting colder and colder inside the castle; professor Flitwick had enchanted candles to fly around and warm the surrounding air. This is why, after lunch that day, Hermione decided to walk the long way to the library instead of having to walk through the colder hallways.  
The Slytherin common room was very near to where she was walking; she knew there was a staircase that lead down to it somewhere near because of that one time Harry and Ron had sneaked in back in their second year.  
She pushed thoughts of Harry and Ron out of her mind. For some reason she felt a stab of guilt whenever she thought of them. They had sent her a letter the previous day to which she had not yet replied, maybe because-  
Her train of thought was interrupted as she rounded a corner and crashed into a tall Slytherin girl. She was from the year above, and did not look happy at all.  
"Look where you're going, Mudblood. Now I'm going to have to clean this robe again thanks to you." She shoved past Hermione, causing her knees to buckle and for her to fall.  
The next thing she knew she was being hauled up off the floor by an even taller Hufflepuff girl with rosy cheeks and brown hair cut like a boy's. She had seen the girl before and knew she played for her house's Quidditch team.  
"Did she push you? I could've sworn I saw her push you. It seems like some of those Slytherins walk around like they own the whole castle! Are you okay?"  
The girl had quite a loud and dramatic voice, which were two things Hermione tried to stay away from.  
"Yes, I'm okay thank you. I just wasn't looking where I was going, that's all." She said softly, brushing herself off. The girl smiled a wide grin and let go of Hermione's shoulder.  
Just as she was turning away, a voice called out "hey, Harrison! I see you're helping mudbloods off the floor now! If I recall correctly, last term you were the one lying on the muddy floor!"A cackle echoed through the hallway, closely followed by a laugh Hermione recognised immediately as Draco's. She looked up and saw three Slytherins walking towards them. The one who had spoken was thin and weedy-looking, and had a sneer that seemed etched onto the features of his face. Behind him were Draco and a short dark boy, and all of them were staring at the two girls in front of them.  
The thin boy's comment was probably some hint about Hufflepuff's latest Quidditch practice, which featured three of the players crashing into each other and ending up flat on the ground, but Hermione was too shocked to notice. She hadn't realised how much she had been looking forward to seeing Draco again until he was there in front of her. Before she could think over this crazy idea the malicious voice spoke again.  
"Cute, this, isn't it Draco? Two mudbloods chumming it up. I'll bet they even take little mud baths together!" He looked back to see if Draco found this funny, and began to laugh a hard and humourless laugh that gave Hermione shivers. The look on Draco's face made her feel a deep dread in the pit of her stomach. He wasn't looking straight at her as he smirked, but was instead staring at a point somewhere above her left ear. Encouraged by Draco's laughter, the thin boy carried on. He pointed at Hermione and said, feigning surprise and recognition, "Hey Draco- isn't this the bitch you were talking about yesterday? The one who corrects everyone's grammar and talks like she learned English from the Queen?" He snorted as a wave of hurt and embarrassment washed over Hermione. She thought things had gone well, that maybe Malfoy's respect for her had grown, that- well it didn't matter what she had thought. She had been wrong.  
To her horror, she felt hot tears burning in her eyes, and suddenly found it hard to catch her breath. Harrison, or whatever that tall girl's name was, pinched Hermione's sweater between two of her fingers and pulled lightly. Hermione disguised her wiping away a tear as tucking her bushy hair behind her ear. "Lets get out of here." Harrison muttered to Hermione, pulling on her sweater in the direction Hermione had just come. Hermione looked up to stare as hard as she could at Draco, trying to make him uncomfortable.  
He stared straight back, a cold and blank look in his eyes, like he didn't care about a single thing in the world. He cocked his head towards her as he spoke, his voice hard and sharp as ice. "What are you looking at, Mudblood? He's right. You should know your place. You should respect me. Don't think just because we have to sit in the same classroom for a few hours this holiday that it changes anything."  
She scowled at him, not being able to stop a tear escaping and rolling down her cheek. She was so embarrassed; Now he knew he had made her upset and that she had thought he liked her better. Stupid stupid stupid stupid Hermione. Of course this didn't change anything. Of course it never would. He was Draco Malfoy, and she was just filth to him. 


	5. Chapter 5

_Five o'clock. Divination classroom._

_DM_

She reread the note once more, just in case it really was all in her imagination. _Five o'clock. Divination classroom. DM._

So Malfoy wanted to work on Herbology with her again, did he? Well wasn't that just too bad; there was no way she was showing up. He could wait there all his life but she wasn't going near him again.

That damn arrogant stupid bastard! His smirk made her sick, his hair made her squirm. Everything about him repelled her. He thought he ruled the world and everyone in it. Need good grades do you Malfoy? Suck it up, Hermione Granger will not be helping you today or any other day.

Clearly, Hermione was still rather upset by what had happened earlier that day. Her pride was hurt, she was embarrassed, and she was confused. Confused, because of that jolt of excitement she felt upon seeing Malfoy in the hallway. It was probably just because he was the only thing going on at the moment; everything else was pretty boring compared to working with a Slytherin.

It was ten to five, and Hermione was determined not to show up to Malfoy's meeting point. After the things he said to her, he dared to send her a note that didn't include an apology! The nerve of some people.

As the clock chimed at five o'clock Hermione was feeling an irrational sense of fear and nerves. It wasn't often she rebelled in this way...not that this was particularly rebellious, but she knew she was making someone angry and that was something new to her.

She took her stuff and went to the dormitories to sit on her bed, knowing that there was no way he could reach her there, even if he did manage to enter the common room.

The clock ticked the minutes away, until it was nearly half past five. This is when Lavender Brown swung open the dormitory door and stood staring at Hermione, hands on her hips.

"I just got sent here _all the way _from the great hall while I was in _the middle of desert _to tell you that that Malfoy git wants a word with you. Also, because I had to walk up about twenty flights of stairs, I'm copying your transfiguration essay."

This was all said at high speed, interrupted by gasps of air or a hand gesture.

"Dra-Malfoy asked for me? Where is he?" She could feel her stomach churning, though she didn't feel afraid.

"Oh no no- _his majesty _Malfoy didn't ask me personally. One of his thug guards held my plate above my head until I said I would come get you. He's where he said he would be _apparently_."

Hermione rushed up and grabbed her books. Then she put them down again as a second thought popped into her mind.

"Right then, I have to go but sorry about the plate thing!"

She hurried out the door, once again at war with her emotions. Was she nervous, angry, or excited? God knows. All three, probably.

Still wearing her old jeans, a University of Florida t-shirt and a cardigan, she sped towards the divination corridor. The ladder into the room was down, and she took a deep breath before starting to climb.

She didn't look up until she had hauled herself up and into a standing position. When she looked around, she saw the vaguely familiar cushions and armchairs, but it all looked slightly different from her memory due to the fact that the curtains had been opened and a bright light shone onto the wood floorboards below. In a corner, sat at a table with two round pouffes, was Malfoy. He sat back in his chair and was fiddling with his pen. His eyes widened then narrowed very quickly as he saw her approach from the shadows.

He didn't move, except for his eyes, which followed her as she came closer to the table, trying to make the least noise possible. She was no longer angry or afraid, just curious. Curious about how someone could sit so quiet and stare so fixedly one minute, then smirk and command the room like a king the next.

Hermione crossed her arms and tried to look fierce as she stood opposite him. His eyes didn't move from her face.

"You can't be that rude to me and then send me a note telling me to help you with your project. I'm not here to please you; what you said was cruel, and I-I want an apology."

She gave herself an inner high five. Her voice had hardly shaken!

She took a deep breath and waited for an answer.

Through clenched teeth and curled lips, Malfoy said "I owe you nothing. You're not here to 'help' me, I can think for myself, smartarse."

She blinked. Well, she asked herself, what did she expect? This was Malfoy. Egocentric, bad tempered and rude. She turned on her heel and walked back towards the trapdoor. She was done.

He watched her walk away, desperate not to notice the way her hips swung the tiniest bit when she walked, how she looked in that t-shirt, the way her hair bounced as she took each step. "Damnit!" He muttered, then he bit his tongue and squished up his face in frustration. He had not meant to say those things to her. He had not meant to be so mean.


End file.
